Application with Multiple Operation Modes

ABSTRACT

A method and system for operating an application with multiple modes are described. A plurality of applications may be presented to a user on a mobile device and one of the displayed applications may be selected. The selected application may have one or more contexts that are determined based on one or more operational parameters. For example, a context for the selected application may be that the application is configured to access an enterprise account. Based on the context, the selected application may be run on the mobile device in one of a plurality of operations modes. The operation modes may comprise managed, unmanaged, and partially managed modes, among others.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/057,314, filed Mar. 1, 2016, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 9,280,377, issued Mar.8, 2016 (U.S. Ser. No. 13/886,889, filed May 3, 2013), and entitled“Application with Multiple Operation Modes,” the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety and made part hereof,which is related to provisional U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.61/806,557, filed Mar. 29, 2013, and entitled “Systems and Methods forEnterprise Mobility Management,” each of which is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The use of mobile computing devices continues to grow. In particular,business and other enterprises have come to rely on mobile computingdevices to allow individuals to remotely access various enterpriseresources. Such resources may include, for example, electronic mailservices, file services, data, and other electronic resources providedby the computer systems of an enterprise.

With this insurgence of business use, individuals are beginning to usetheir mobile computing devices in both business and personal ways. Forexample, an employee of a corporation may access a corporate emailaccount and a personal email account from the same mobile computingdevice. Accordingly, certain functionality of a mobile computing devicemay share business and personal aspects. However, business informationoften requires secure communication and storage. Thus, there is a needfor a mobile computing device to determine when to leverage business useon a mobile computing device and when to simply allow personal use.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of various aspects describedherein. This summary is not an extensive overview, and is not intendedto identify key or critical elements or to delineate the scope of theclaims. The following summary merely presents some concepts in asimplified form as an introductory prelude to the more detaileddescription provided below.

A method and system for operating an application with multiple modes aredescribed. A plurality of applications may be presented to a user on amobile device and one of the displayed applications may be selected. Theselected application may have one or more contexts that are determined.For example, a context for the selected application may be that theapplication is configured to access an enterprise account. Based on thecontext, the selected application may be run on the mobile device in oneof a plurality of operations modes. The operation modes may comprisemanaged, unmanaged, and partially managed modes.

In an embodiment, the context for the selected application may comprisean account to be accessed by the selected application, a location forthe mobile device that will be running the selected application, adetermination as to whether a predetermined application is running onthe mobile device, one or more network connections for the mobiledevice, and one or more settings for the mobile device. One or more ofthese contexts may be compared to policies to determine an operationmode for the selected application.

In another embodiment, an operation mode may be switched for a selectedapplication. One or more contexts may be monitored for the selectedapplication while running and a change in operation mode may be detectedbased on the monitoring. For example, one or more contexts may changefor the selected application and a policy may define that an operationmode for the selected application is to be changed. Accordingly, theoperation mode may be switched to the updated operation mode.

These and additional aspects will be appreciated with the benefit of thedisclosures discussed in further detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of aspects described herein and theadvantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the followingdescription in consideration of the accompanying drawings, in which likereference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative computer system architecture that may beused in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative remote-access system architecture thatmay be used in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative virtualized (hypervisor) systemarchitecture that may be used in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative cloud-based system architecture that maybe used in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative enterprise mobility management systemthat may be used in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 6 depicts another illustrative enterprise mobility managementsystem that may be used in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 7 depicts a sample interface of a mobile device in accordance withan embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for determining an application mode for anapplication in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for determining an account type context for anapplication in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for determining a location context for anapplication in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for determining a predetermine application statuscontext for an application in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for determining a network connection context foran application in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for determining a settings context for anapplication in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for switching an application mode for anapplication in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the various embodiments, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings identified above and which form a parthereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration various embodimentsin which aspects described herein may be practiced. It is to beunderstood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural andfunctional modifications may be made without departing from the scopedescribed herein. Various aspects are capable of other embodiments andof being practiced or being carried out in various different ways.

As a general introduction to the subject matter described in more detailbelow, aspects described herein are directed towards controlling remoteaccess to resources at an enterprise computing system using managedmobile applications at mobile computing devices. An access manager mayperform a validation process that determines whether a mobileapplication requesting access to enterprise resources has accuratelyidentified itself and has not been subsequently altered afterinstallation at the mobile computing device. In this way, the accessmanager may ensure the mobile application requesting access to theenterprise resource can be trusted and is not attempting to circumventthe security mechanisms used to protect those enterprise resources. As aresult, individuals associated with the enterprise may advantageouslyutilize enterprise resources at their personal mobile devices.

It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used hereinare for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting. Rather, the phrases and terms used herein are to be giventheir broadest interpretation and meaning. The use of “including” and“comprising” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the itemslisted thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional itemsand equivalents thereof. The use of the terms “mounted,” “connected,”“coupled,” “positioned,” “engaged” and similar terms, is meant toinclude both direct and indirect mounting, connecting, coupling,positioning and engaging.

Computing Architecture

Computer software, hardware, and networks may be utilized in a varietyof different system environments, including standalone, networked,remote-access (aka, remote desktop), virtualized, and/or cloud-basedenvironments, among others. FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a systemarchitecture and data processing device that may be used to implementone or more illustrative aspects described herein in a standalone and/ornetworked environment. Various network nodes 103, 105, 107, and 109 maybe interconnected via a wide area network (WAN) 101, such as theInternet. Other networks may also or alternatively be used, includingprivate intranets, corporate networks, LANs, metropolitan area networks(MAN) wireless networks, personal networks (PAN), and the like. Network101 is for illustration purposes and may be replaced with fewer oradditional computer networks. A local area network (LAN) may have one ormore of any known LAN topology and may use one or more of a variety ofdifferent protocols, such as Ethernet. Devices 103, 105, 107, 109 andother devices (not shown) may be connected to one or more of thenetworks via twisted pair wires, coaxial cable, fiber optics, radiowaves or other communication media.

The term “network” as used herein and depicted in the drawings refersnot only to systems in which remote storage devices are coupled togethervia one or more communication paths, but also to stand-alone devicesthat may be coupled, from time to time, to such systems that havestorage capability. Consequently, the term “network” includes not only a“physical network” but also a “content network,” which is comprised ofthe data—attributable to a single entity—which resides across allphysical networks.

The components may include data server 103, web server 105, and clientcomputers 107, 109. Data server 103 provides overall access, control andadministration of databases and control software for performing one ormore illustrative aspects describe herein. Data server 103 may beconnected to web server 105 through which users interact with and obtaindata as requested. Alternatively, data server 103 may act as a webserver itself and be directly connected to the Internet. Data server 103may be connected to web server 105 through the network 101 (e.g., theInternet), via direct or indirect connection, or via some other network.Users may interact with the data server 103 using remote computers 107,109, e.g., using a web browser to connect to the data server 103 via oneor more externally exposed web sites hosted by web server 105. Clientcomputers 107, 109 may be used in concert with data server 103 to accessdata stored therein, or may be used for other purposes. For example,from client device 107 a user may access web server 105 using anInternet browser, as is known in the art, or by executing a softwareapplication that communicates with web server 105 and/or data server 103over a computer network (such as the Internet).

Servers and applications may be combined on the same physical machines,and retain separate virtual or logical addresses, or may reside onseparate physical machines. FIG. 1 illustrates just one example of anetwork architecture that may be used, and those of skill in the artwill appreciate that the specific network architecture and dataprocessing devices used may vary, and are secondary to the functionalitythat they provide, as further described herein. For example, servicesprovided by web server 105 and data server 103 may be combined on asingle server.

Each component 103, 105, 107, 109 may be any type of known computer,server, or data processing device. Data server 103, e.g., may include aprocessor 111 controlling overall operation of the rate server 103. Dataserver 103 may further include RAM 113, ROM 115, network interface 117,input/output interfaces 119 (e.g., keyboard, mouse, display, printer,etc.), and memory 121. I/O 119 may include a variety of interface unitsand drives for reading, writing, displaying, and/or printing data orfiles. Memory 121 may further store operating system software 123 forcontrolling overall operation of the data processing device 103, controllogic 125 for instructing data server 103 to perform aspects describedherein, and other application software 127 providing secondary, support,and/or other functionality which may or might not be used in conjunctionwith aspects described herein. The control logic may also be referred toherein as the data server software 125. Functionality of the data serversoftware may refer to operations or decisions made automatically basedon rules coded into the control logic, made manually by a user providinginput into the system, and/or a combination of automatic processingbased on user input (e.g., queries, data updates, etc.).

Memory 121 may also store data used in performance of one or moreaspects described herein, including a first database 129 and a seconddatabase 131. In some embodiments, the first database may include thesecond database (e.g., as a separate table, report, etc.). That is, theinformation can be stored in a single database, or separated intodifferent logical, virtual, or physical databases, depending on systemdesign. Devices 105, 107, 109 may have similar or different architectureas described with respect to device 103. Those of skill in the art willappreciate that the functionality of data processing device 103 (ordevice 105, 107, 109) as described herein may be spread across multipledata processing devices, for example, to distribute processing loadacross multiple computers, to segregate transactions based on geographiclocation, user access level, quality of service (QoS), etc.

One or more aspects may be embodied in computer-usable or readable dataand/or computer-executable instructions, such as in one or more programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices as describedherein. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types when executed by a processor ina computer or other device. The modules may be written in a source codeprogramming language that is subsequently compiled for execution, or maybe written in a scripting language such as (but not limited to) HTML orXML. The computer executable instructions may be stored on a computerreadable medium such as a nonvolatile storage device. Any suitablecomputer readable storage media may be utilized, including hard disks,CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or anycombination thereof. In addition, various transmission (non-storage)media representing data or events as described herein may be transferredbetween a source and a destination in the form of electromagnetic wavestraveling through signal-conducting media such as metal wires, opticalfibers, and/or wireless transmission media (e.g., air and/or space).Various aspects described herein may be embodied as a method, a dataprocessing system, or a computer program product. Therefore, variousfunctionalities may be embodied in whole or in part in software,firmware and/or hardware or hardware equivalents such as integratedcircuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and the like.Particular data structures may be used to more effectively implement oneor more aspects described herein, and such data structures arecontemplated within the scope of computer executable instructions andcomputer-usable data described herein.

With further reference to FIG. 2, one or more aspects described hereinmay be implemented in a remote-access environment. FIG. 2 depicts anexample system architecture including a generic computing device 201 inan illustrative computing environment 200 that may be used according toone or more illustrative aspects described herein. Generic computingdevice 201 may be used as a server 206 a in a single-server ormulti-server desktop virtualization system (e.g., a remote access orcloud system) configured to provide virtual machines for client accessdevices. The generic computing device 201 may have a processor 203 forcontrolling overall operation of the server and its associatedcomponents, including random access memory (RAM) 205, read-only memory(ROM) 207, input/output (I/O) module 209, and memory 215.

I/O module 209 may include a mouse, keypad, touch screen, scanner,optical reader, and/or stylus (or other input device(s)) through which auser of generic computing device 201 may provide input, and may alsoinclude one or more of a speaker for providing audio output and a videodisplay device for providing textual, audiovisual, and/or graphicaloutput. Software may be stored within memory 215 and/or other storage toprovide instructions to processor 203 for configuring generic computingdevice 201 into a special purpose computing device in order to performvarious functions as described herein. For example, memory 215 may storesoftware used by the computing device 201, such as an operating system217, application programs 219, and an associated database 221.

Computing device 201 may operate in a networked environment supportingconnections to one or more remote computers, such as terminals 240 (alsoreferred to as client devices). The terminals 240 may be personalcomputers, mobile devices, laptop computers, tablets, or servers thatinclude many or all of the elements described above with respect to thegeneric computing device 103 or 201. The network connections depicted inFIG. 2 include a local area network (LAN) 225 and a wide area network(WAN) 229, but may also include other networks. When used in a LANnetworking environment, computing device 201 may be connected to the LAN225 through a network interface or adapter 223. When used in a WANnetworking environment, computing device 201 may include a modem 227 orother wide area network interface for establishing communications overthe WAN 229, such as computer network 230 (e.g., the Internet). It willbe appreciated that the network connections shown are illustrative andother means of establishing a communications link between the computersmay be used. Computing device 201 and/or terminals 240 may also bemobile terminals (e.g., mobile phones, smartphones, PDAs, notebooks,etc.) including various other components, such as a battery, speaker,and antennas (not shown).

Aspects described herein may also be operational with numerous othergeneral purpose or special purpose computing system environments orconfigurations. Examples of other computing systems, environments,and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with aspectsdescribed herein include, but are not limited to, personal computers,server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers,distributed computing environments that include any of the above systemsor devices, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, one or more client devices 240 may be incommunication with one or more servers 206 a-206 n (generally referredto herein as “server(s) 206”). In one embodiment, the computingenvironment 200 may include a network appliance installed between theserver(s) 206 and client machine(s) 240. The network appliance maymanage client/server connections, and in some cases can load balanceclient connections amongst a plurality of backend servers 206.

The client machine(s) 240 may in some embodiments be referred to as asingle client machine 240 or a single group of client machines 240,while server(s) 206 may be referred to as a single server 206 or asingle group of servers 206. In one embodiment a single client machine240 communicates with more than one server 206, while in anotherembodiment a single server 206 communicates with more than one clientmachine 240. In yet another embodiment, a single client machine 240communicates with a single server 206.

A client machine 240 can, in some embodiments, be referenced by any oneof the following non-exhaustive terms: client machine(s); client(s);client computer(s); client device(s); client computing device(s); localmachine; remote machine; client node(s); endpoint(s); or endpointnode(s). The server 206, in some embodiments, may be referenced by anyone of the following non-exhaustive terms: server(s), local machine;remote machine; server farm(s), or host computing device(s).

In one embodiment, the client machine 240 may be a virtual machine. Thevirtual machine may be any virtual machine, while in some embodimentsthe virtual machine may be any virtual machine managed by a Type 1 orType 2 hypervisor, for example, a hypervisor developed by CitrixSystems, IBM, VMware, or any other hypervisor. In some aspects, thevirtual machine may be managed by a hypervisor, while in aspects thevirtual machine may be managed by a hypervisor executing on a server 206or a hypervisor executing on a client 240.

Some embodiments include a client device 240 that displays applicationoutput generated by an application remotely executing on a server 206 orother remotely located machine. In these embodiments, the client device240 may execute a virtual machine receiver program or application todisplay the output in an application window, a browser, or other outputwindow. In one example, the application is a desktop, while in otherexamples the application is an application that generates or presents adesktop. A desktop may include a graphical shell providing a userinterface for an instance of an operating system in which local and/orremote applications can be integrated. Applications, as used herein, areprograms that execute after an instance of an operating system (and,optionally, also the desktop) has been loaded.

The server 206, in some embodiments, uses a remote presentation protocolor other program to send data to a thin-client or remote-displayapplication executing on the client to present display output generatedby an application executing on the server 206. The thin-client orremote-display protocol can be any one of the following non-exhaustivelist of protocols: the Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocoldeveloped by Citrix Systems, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; or the RemoteDesktop Protocol (RDP) manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash.

A remote computing environment may include more than one server 206a-206 n such that the servers 206 a-206 n are logically grouped togetherinto a server farm 206, for example, in a cloud computing environment.The server farm 206 may include servers 206 that are geographicallydispersed while and logically grouped together, or servers 206 that arelocated proximate to each other while logically grouped together.Geographically dispersed servers 206 a-206 n within a server farm 206can, in some embodiments, communicate using a WAN (wide), MAN(metropolitan), or LAN (local), where different geographic regions canbe characterized as: different continents; different regions of acontinent; different countries; different states; different cities;different campuses; different rooms; or any combination of the precedinggeographical locations. In some embodiments the server farm 206 may beadministered as a single entity, while in other embodiments the serverfarm 206 can include multiple server farms.

In some embodiments, a server farm may include servers 206 that executea substantially similar type of operating system platform (e.g.,WINDOWS, UNIX, LINUX, iOS, ANDROID, SYMBIAN, etc.) In other embodiments,server farm 206 may include a first group of one or more servers thatexecute a first type of operating system platform, and a second group ofone or more servers that execute a second type of operating systemplatform.

Server 206 may be configured as any type of server, as needed, e.g., afile server, an application server, a web server, a proxy server, anappliance, a network appliance, a gateway, an application gateway, agateway server, a virtualization server, a deployment server, a SSL VPNserver, a firewall, a web server, an application server or as a masterapplication server, a server executing an active directory, or a serverexecuting an application acceleration program that provides firewallfunctionality, application functionality, or load balancingfunctionality. Other server types may also be used.

Some embodiments include a first server 106 a that receives requestsfrom a client machine 240, forwards the request to a second server 106b, and responds to the request generated by the client machine 240 witha response from the second server 106 b. First server 106 a may acquirean enumeration of applications available to the client machine 240 andwell as address information associated with an application server 206hosting an application identified within the enumeration ofapplications. First server 106 a can then present a response to theclient's request using a web interface, and communicate directly withthe client 240 to provide the client 240 with access to an identifiedapplication. One or more clients 240 and/or one or more servers 206 maytransmit data over network 230, e.g., network 101.

FIG. 2 shows a high-level architecture of an illustrative desktopvirtualization system. As shown, the desktop virtualization system maybe single-server or multi-server system, or cloud system, including atleast one virtualization server 206 configured to provide virtualdesktops and/or virtual applications to one or more client accessdevices 240. As used herein, a desktop refers to a graphical environmentor space in which one or more applications may be hosted and/orexecuted. A desktop may include a graphical shell providing a userinterface for an instance of an operating system in which local and/orremote applications can be integrated. Applications may include programsthat execute after an instance of an operating system (and, optionally,also the desktop) has been loaded. Each instance of the operating systemmay be physical (e.g., one operating system per device) or virtual(e.g., many instances of an OS running on a single device). Eachapplication may be executed on a local device, or executed on a remotelylocated device (e.g., remoted).

With further reference to FIG. 3, a computer device 301 may beconfigured as a virtualization server in a virtualization environment,for example, a single-server, multi-server, or cloud computingenvironment. Virtualization server 301 illustrated in FIG. 3 can bedeployed as and/or implemented by one or more embodiments of the server206 illustrated in FIG. 2 or by other known computing devices. Includedin virtualization server 301 is a hardware layer that can include one ormore physical disks 304, one or more physical devices 306, one or morephysical processors 308 and one or more physical memories 316. In someembodiments, firmware 312 can be stored within a memory element in thephysical memory 316 and can be executed by one or more of the physicalprocessors 308. Virtualization server 301 may further include anoperating system 314 that may be stored in a memory element in thephysical memory 316 and executed by one or more of the physicalprocessors 308. Still further, a hypervisor 302 may be stored in amemory element in the physical memory 316 and can be executed by one ormore of the physical processors 308.

Executing on one or more of the physical processors 308 may be one ormore virtual machines 332A-C (generally 332). Each virtual machine 332may have a virtual disk 326A-C and a virtual processor 328A-C. In someembodiments, a first virtual machine 332A may execute, using a virtualprocessor 328A, a control program 320 that includes a tools stack 324.Control program 320 may be referred to as a control virtual machine,Dom0, Domain 0, or other virtual machine used for system administrationand/or control. In some embodiments, one or more virtual machines 332B-Ccan execute, using a virtual processor 328B-C, a guest operating system330A-B.

Virtualization server 301 may include a hardware layer 310 with one ormore pieces of hardware that communicate with the virtualization server301. In some embodiments, the hardware layer 310 can include one or morephysical disks 304, one or more physical devices 306, one or morephysical processors 308, and one or more memory 216. Physical components304, 306, 308, and 316 may include, for example, any of the componentsdescribed above. Physical devices 306 may include, for example, anetwork interface card, a video card, a keyboard, a mouse, an inputdevice, a monitor, a display device, speakers, an optical drive, astorage device, a universal serial bus connection, a printer, a scanner,a network element (e.g., router, firewall, network address translator,load balancer, virtual private network (VPN) gateway, Dynamic HostConfiguration Protocol (DHCP) router, etc.), or any device connected toor communicating with virtualization server 301. Physical memory 316 inthe hardware layer 310 may include any type of memory. Physical memory316 may store data, and in some embodiments may store one or moreprograms, or set of executable instructions. FIG. 3 illustrates anembodiment where firmware 312 is stored within the physical memory 316of virtualization server 301. Programs or executable instructions storedin the physical memory 316 can be executed by the one or more processors308 of virtualization server 301.

Virtualization server 301 may also include a hypervisor 302. In someembodiments, hypervisor 302 may be a program executed by processors 308on virtualization server 301 to create and manage any number of virtualmachines 332. Hypervisor 302 may be referred to as a virtual machinemonitor, or platform virtualization software. In some embodiments,hypervisor 302 can be any combination of executable instructions andhardware that monitors virtual machines executing on a computingmachine. Hypervisor 302 may be Type 2 hypervisor, where the hypervisorthat executes within an operating system 314 executing on thevirtualization server 301. Virtual machines then execute at a levelabove the hypervisor. In some embodiments, the Type 2 hypervisorexecutes within the context of a user's operating system such that theType 2 hypervisor interacts with the user's operating system. In otherembodiments, one or more virtualization servers 201 in a virtualizationenvironment may instead include a Type 1 hypervisor (Not Shown). A Type1 hypervisor may execute on the virtualization server 301 by directlyaccessing the hardware and resources within the hardware layer 310. Thatis, while a Type 2 hypervisor 302 accesses system resources through ahost operating system 314, as shown, a Type 1 hypervisor may directlyaccess all system resources without the host operating system 314. AType 1 hypervisor may execute directly on one or more physicalprocessors 308 of virtualization server 301, and may include programdata stored in the physical memory 316.

Hypervisor 302, in some embodiments, can provide virtual resources tooperating systems 330 or control programs 320 executing on virtualmachines 332 in any manner that simulates the operating systems 330 orcontrol programs 320 having direct access to system resources. Systemresources can include, but are not limited to, physical devices 306,physical disks 304, physical processors 308, physical memory 316 and anyother component included in virtualization server 301 hardware layer310. Hypervisor 302 may be used to emulate virtual hardware, partitionphysical hardware, virtualize physical hardware, and/or execute virtualmachines that provide access to computing environments. In still otherembodiments, hypervisor 302 controls processor scheduling and memorypartitioning for a virtual machine 332 executing on virtualizationserver 301. Hypervisor 302 may include those manufactured by VMWare,Inc., of Palo Alto, California; the XEN hypervisor, an open sourceproduct whose development is overseen by the open source Xen.orgcommunity; HyperV, VirtualServer or virtual PC hypervisors provided byMicrosoft, or others. In some embodiments, virtualization server 301executes a hypervisor 302 that creates a virtual machine platform onwhich guest operating systems may execute. In these embodiments, thevirtualization server 301 may be referred to as a host server. Anexample of such a virtualization server is the XEN SERVER provided byCitrix Systems, Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Hypervisor 302 may create one or more virtual machines 332B-C (generally332) in which guest operating systems 330 execute. In some embodiments,hypervisor 302 may load a virtual machine image to create a virtualmachine 332. In other embodiments, the hypervisor 302 may executes aguest operating system 330 within virtual machine 332. In still otherembodiments, virtual machine 332 may execute guest operating system 330.

In addition to creating virtual machines 332, hypervisor 302 may controlthe execution of at least one virtual machine 332. In other embodiments,hypervisor 302 may presents at least one virtual machine 332 with anabstraction of at least one hardware resource provided by thevirtualization server 301 (e.g., any hardware resource available withinthe hardware layer 310). In other embodiments, hypervisor 302 maycontrol the manner in which virtual machines 332 access physicalprocessors 308 available in virtualization server 301. Controllingaccess to physical processors 308 may include determining whether avirtual machine 332 should have access to a processor 308, and howphysical processor capabilities are presented to the virtual machine332.

As shown in FIG. 3, virtualization server 301 may host or execute one ormore virtual machines 332. A virtual machine 332 is a set of executableinstructions that, when executed by a processor 308, imitate theoperation of a physical computer such that the virtual machine 332 canexecute programs and processes much like a physical computing device.While FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment where a virtualization server 301hosts three virtual machines 332, in other embodiments virtualizationserver 301 can host any number of virtual machines 332. Hypervisor 302,in some embodiments, provides each virtual machine 332 with a uniquevirtual view of the physical hardware, memory, processor and othersystem resources available to that virtual machine 332. In someembodiments, the unique virtual view can be based on one or more ofvirtual machine permissions, application of a policy engine to one ormore virtual machine identifiers, a user accessing a virtual machine,the applications executing on a virtual machine, networks accessed by avirtual machine, or any other desired criteria. For instance, hypervisor302 may create one or more unsecure virtual machines 332 and one or moresecure virtual machines 332. Unsecure virtual machines 332 may beprevented from accessing resources, hardware, memory locations, andprograms that secure virtual machines 332 may be permitted to access. Inother embodiments, hypervisor 302 may provide each virtual machine 332with a substantially similar virtual view of the physical hardware,memory, processor and other system resources available to the virtualmachines 332.

Each virtual machine 332 may include a virtual disk 326A-C (generally326) and a virtual processor 328A-C (generally 328.) The virtual disk326, in some embodiments, is a virtualized view of one or more physicaldisks 304 of the virtualization server 301, or a portion of one or morephysical disks 304 of the virtualization server 301. The virtualizedview of the physical disks 304 can be generated, provided and managed bythe hypervisor 302. In some embodiments, hypervisor 302 provides eachvirtual machine 332 with a unique view of the physical disks 304. Thus,in these embodiments, the particular virtual disk 326 included in eachvirtual machine 332 can be unique when compared with the other virtualdisks 326.

A virtual processor 328 can be a virtualized view of one or morephysical processors 308 of the virtualization server 301. In someembodiments, the virtualized view of the physical processors 308 can begenerated, provided and managed by hypervisor 302. In some embodiments,virtual processor 328 has substantially all of the same characteristicsof at least one physical processor 308. In other embodiments, virtualprocessor 308 provides a modified view of physical processors 308 suchthat at least some of the characteristics of the virtual processor 328are different than the characteristics of the corresponding physicalprocessor 308.

With further reference to FIG. 4, some aspects described herein may beimplemented in a cloud-based environment. FIG. 4 illustrates an exampleof a cloud computing environment (or cloud system) 400. As seen in FIG.4, client computers 411-414 may communicate with a cloud managementserver 410 to access the computing resources (e.g., host servers 403,storage resources 404, and network resources 405) of the cloud system.

Management server 410 may be implemented on one or more physicalservers. The management server 410 may run, for example, CLOUDSTACK byCitrix Systems, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., or OPENSTACK, amongothers. Management server 410 may manage various computing resources,including cloud hardware and software resources, for example, hostcomputers 403, data storage devices 404, and networking devices 405. Thecloud hardware and software resources may include private and/or publiccomponents. For example, a cloud may be configured as a private cloud tobe used by one or more particular customers or client computers 411-414and/or over a private network. In other embodiments, public clouds orhybrid public-private clouds may be used by other customers over an openor hybrid networks.

Management server 410 may be configured to provide user interfacesthrough which cloud operators and cloud customers may interact with thecloud system. For example, the management server 410 may provide a setof APIs and/or one or more cloud operator console applications (e.g.,web-based on standalone applications) with user interfaces to allowcloud operators to manage the cloud resources, configure thevirtualization layer, manage customer accounts, and perform other cloudadministration tasks. The management server 410 also may include a setof APIs and/or one or more customer console applications with userinterfaces configured to receive cloud computing requests from end usersvia client computers 411-414, for example, requests to create, modify,or destroy virtual machines within the cloud. Client computers 411-414may connect to management server 410 via the Internet or othercommunication network, and may request access to one or more of thecomputing resources managed by management server 410. In response toclient requests, the management server 410 may include a resourcemanager configured to select and provision physical resources in thehardware layer of the cloud system based on the client requests. Forexample, the management server 410 and additional components of thecloud system may be configured to provision, create, and manage virtualmachines and their operating environments (e.g., hypervisors, storageresources, services offered by the network elements, etc.) for customersat client computers 411-414, over a network (e.g., the Internet),providing customers with computational resources, data storage services,networking capabilities, and computer platform and application support.Cloud systems also may be configured to provide various specificservices, including security systems, development environments, userinterfaces, and the like.

Certain clients 411-414 may be related, for example, different clientcomputers creating virtual machines on behalf of the same end user, ordifferent users affiliated with the same company or organization. Inother examples, certain clients 411-414 may be unrelated, such as usersaffiliated with different companies or organizations. For unrelatedclients, information on the virtual machines or storage of any one usermay be hidden from other users.

Referring now to the physical hardware layer of a cloud computingenvironment, availability zones 401-402 (or zones) may refer to acollocated set of physical computing resources. Zones may begeographically separated from other zones in the overall cloud ofcomputing resources. For example, zone 401 may be a first clouddatacenter located in California, and zone 402 may be a second clouddatacenter located in Florida. Management sever 410 may be located atone of the availability zones, or at a separate location. Each zone mayinclude an internal network that interfaces with devices that areoutside of the zone, such as the management server 410, through agateway. End users of the cloud (e.g., clients 411-414) might or mightnot be aware of the distinctions between zones. For example, an end usermay request the creation of a virtual machine having a specified amountof memory, processing power, and network capabilities. The managementserver 410 may respond to the user's request and may allocate theresources to create the virtual machine without the user knowing whetherthe virtual machine was created using resources from zone 401 or zone402. In other examples, the cloud system may allow end users to requestthat virtual machines (or other cloud resources) are allocated in aspecific zone or on specific resources 403-405 within a zone.

In this example, each zone 401-402 may include an arrangement of variousphysical hardware components (or computing resources) 403-405, forexample, physical hosting resources (or processing resources), physicalnetwork resources, physical storage resources, switches, and additionalhardware resources that may be used to provide cloud computing servicesto customers. The physical hosting resources in a cloud zone 401-402 mayinclude one or more computer servers 403, such as the virtualizationservers 301 described above, which may be configured to create and hostvirtual machine instances. The physical network resources in a cloudzone 401 or 402 may include one or more network elements 405 (e.g.,,network service providers) comprising hardware and/or softwareconfigured to provide a network service to cloud customers, such asfirewalls, network address translators, load balancers, virtual privatenetwork (VPN) gateways, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)routers, and the like. The storage resources in the cloud zone 401-402may include storage disks (e.g., solid state drives (SSDs), magnetichard disks, etc.) and other storage devices.

The example cloud computing environment shown in FIG. 4 also may includea virtualization layer (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 1-3) with additionalhardware and/or software resources configured to create and managevirtual machines and provide other services to customers using thephysical resources in the cloud. The virtualization layer may includehypervisors, as described above in FIG. 3, along with other componentsto provide network virtualizations, storage virtualizations, etc. Thevirtualization layer may be as a separate layer from the physicalresource layer, or may share some or all of the same hardware and/orsoftware resources with the physical resource layer. For example, thevirtualization layer may include a hypervisor installed in each of thevirtualization servers 403 with the physical computing resources. Knowncloud systems may alternatively be used, e.g., WINDOWS AZURE (MicrosoftCorporation of Redmond Wash.), AMAZON EC2 (Amazon.com Inc. of Seattle,Wash.), IBM BLUE CLOUD (IBM Corporation of Armonk, N.Y.), or others.

Enterprise Mobility Management Architecture

FIG. 5 represents an enterprise mobility technical architecture 500 foruse in a BYOD environment. The architecture enables a user of a mobiledevice 502 to both access enterprise or personal resources from a mobiledevice 502 and use the mobile device 502 for personal use. The user mayaccess such enterprise resources 504 or enterprise services 508 using amobile device 502 that is purchased by the user or a mobile device 502that is provided by the enterprise to user. The user may utilize themobile device 502 for business use only or for business and personaluse. The mobile device may run an iOS operating system, and Androidoperating system, or the like. The enterprise may choose to implementpolicies to manage the mobile device 504. The policies may be implantedthrough a firewall or gateway in such a way that the mobile device maybe identified, secured or security verified, and provided selective orfull access to the enterprise resources. The policies may be mobiledevice management policies, mobile application management policies,mobile data management policies, or some combination of mobile device,application, and data management policies. A mobile device 504 that ismanaged through the application of mobile device management policies maybe referred to as an enrolled device.

The operating system of the mobile device may be separated into amanaged partition 510 and an unmanaged partition 512. The managedpartition 510 may have policies applied to it to secure the applicationsrunning on and data stored in the managed partition. The applicationsrunning on the managed partition may be secure applications. The secureapplications may be email applications, web browsing applications,software-as-a-service (SaaS) access applications, Windows Applicationaccess applications, and the like. The secure applications may be securenative applications 514, secure remote applications 522 executed by asecure application launcher 518, virtualization applications 526executed by a secure application launcher 518, and the like. The securenative applications 514 may be wrapped by a secure application wrapper520. The secure application wrapper 520 may include integrated policiesthat are executed on the mobile device 502 when the secure nativeapplication is executed on the device. The secure application wrapper520 may include meta-data that points the secure native application 514running on the mobile device 502 to the resources hosted at theenterprise that the secure native application 514 may require tocomplete the task requested upon execution of the secure nativeapplication 514. The secure remote applications 522 executed by a secureapplication launcher 518 may be executed within the secure applicationlauncher application 518. The virtualization applications 526 executedby a secure application launcher 518 may utilize resources on the mobiledevice 502, at the enterprise resources 504, and the like. The resourcesused on the mobile device 502 by the virtualization applications 526executed by a secure application launcher 518 may include userinteraction resources, processing resources, and the like. The userinteraction resources may be used to collect and transmit keyboardinput, mouse input, camera input, tactile input, audio input, visualinput, gesture input, and the like. The processing resources may be usedto present a user interface, process data received from the enterpriseresources 504, and the like. The resources used at the enterpriseresources 504 by the virtualization applications 526 executed by asecure application launcher 518 may include user interface generationresources, processing resources, and the like. The user interfacegeneration resources may be used to assemble a user interface, modify auser interface, refresh a user interface, and the like. The processingresources may be used to create information, read information, updateinformation, delete information, and the like. For example, thevirtualization application may record user interactions associated witha GUI and communicate them to a server application where the serverapplication will use the user interaction data as an input to theapplication operating on the server. In this arrangement, an enterprisemay elect to maintain the application on the server side as well asdata, files, etc. associated with the application. While an enterprisemay elect to “mobilize” some applications in accordance with theprinciples herein by securing them for deployment on the mobile device,this arrangement may also be elected for certain applications. Forexample, while some applications may be secured for use on the mobiledevice, others might not be prepared or appropriate for deployment onthe mobile device so the enterprise may elect to provide the mobile useraccess to the unprepared applications through virtualization techniques.As another example, the enterprise may have large complex applicationswith large and complex data sets (e.g. material resource planningapplications) where it would be very difficult, or otherwiseundesirable, to customize the application for the mobile device so theenterprise may elect to provide access to the application throughvirtualization techniques. As yet another example, the enterprise mayhave an application that maintains highly secured data (e.g. humanresources data, customer data, engineering data) that may be deemed bythe enterprise as too sensitive for even the secured mobile environmentso the enterprise may elect to use virtualization techniques to permitmobile access to such applications and data. An enterprise may elect toprovide both fully secured and fully functional applications on themobile device as well as a virtualization application to allow access toapplications that are deemed more properly operated on the server side.In an embodiment, the virtualization application may store some data,files, etc. on the mobile phone in one of the secure storage locations.An enterprise, for example, may elect to allow certain information to bestored on the phone while not permitting other information.

In connection with the virtualization application, as described herein,the mobile device may have a virtualization application that is designedto present GUI's and then record user interactions with the GUI. Theapplication may communicate the user interactions to the server side tobe used by the server side application as user interactions with theapplication. In response, the application on the server side maytransmit back to the mobile device a new GUI. For example, the new GUImay be a static page, a dynamic page, an animation, or the like.

The applications running on the managed partition may be stabilizedapplications. The stabilized applications may be managed by a devicemanager 524. The device manager 524 may monitor the stabilizedapplications and utilize techniques for detecting and remedying problemsthat would result in a destabilized application if such techniques werenot utilized to detect and remedy the problems.

The secure applications may access data stored in a secure datacontainer 528 in the managed partition 510 of the mobile device. Thedata secured in the secure data container may be accessed by the securewrapped applications 514, applications executed by a secure applicationlauncher 522, virtualization applications 526 executed by a secureapplication launcher 522, and the like. The data stored in the securedata container 528 may include files, databases, and the like. The datastored in the secure data container 528 may include data restricted to aspecific secure application 530, shared among secure applications 532,and the like. Data restricted to a secure application may include securegeneral data 534 and highly secure data 538. Secure general data may usea strong form of encryption such as AES 128-bit encryption or the like,while highly secure data 538 may use a very strong form of encryptionsuch as AES 254-bit encryption. Data stored in the secure data container528 may be deleted from the device upon receipt of a command from thedevice manager 524. The secure applications may have a dual-mode option540. The dual mode option 540 may present the user with an option tooperate the secured application in an unsecured mode. In an unsecuredmode, the secure applications may access data stored in an unsecureddata container 542 on the unmanaged partition 512 of the mobile device502. The data stored in an unsecured data container may be personal data544. The data stored in an unsecured data container 542 may also beaccessed by unsecured applications 548 that are running on the unmanagedpartition 512 of the mobile device 502. The data stored in an unsecureddata container 542 may remain on the mobile device 502 when the datastored in the secure data container 528 is deleted from the mobiledevice 502. An enterprise may want to delete from the mobile deviceselected or all data, files, and/or applications owned, licensed orcontrolled by the enterprise (enterprise data) while leaving orotherwise preserving personal data, files, and/or applications owned,licensed or controlled by the user (personal data). This operation maybe referred to as a selective wipe. With the enterprise and personaldata arranged in accordance to the aspects described herein, anenterprise may perform a selective wipe.

The mobile device may connect to enterprise resources 504 and enterpriseservices 508 at an enterprise, to the public Internet 548, and the like.The mobile device may connect to enterprise resources 504 and enterpriseservices 508 through virtual private network connections. The virtualprivate network connections may be specific to particular applications550, particular devices, particular secured areas on the mobile device,and the like 552. For example, each of the wrapped applications in thesecured area of the phone may access enterprise resources through anapplication specific VPN such that access to the VPN would be grantedbased on attributes associated with the application, possibly inconjunction with user or device attribute information. The virtualprivate network connections may carry Microsoft Exchange traffic,Microsoft Active Directory traffic, HTTP traffic, HTTPS traffic,application management traffic, and the like. The virtual privatenetwork connections may support and enable single-sign-on authenticationprocesses 554. The single-sign-on processes may allow a user to providea single set of authentication credentials, which are then verified byan authentication service 558. The authentication service 558 may thengrant to the user access to multiple enterprise resources 504, withoutrequiring the user to provide authentication credentials to eachindividual enterprise resource 504.

The virtual private network connections may be established and managedby an access gateway 560. The access gateway 560 may include performanceenhancement features that manage, accelerate, and improve the deliveryof enterprise resources 504 to the mobile device 502. The access gatewaymay also re-route traffic from the mobile device 502 to the publicInternet 548, enabling the mobile device 502 to access publiclyavailable and unsecured applications that run on the public Internet548. The mobile device may connect to the access gateway via a transportnetwork 562. The transport network 562 may be a wired network, wirelessnetwork, cloud network, local area network, metropolitan area network,wide area network, public network, private network, and the like.

The enterprise resources 504 may include email servers, file sharingservers, SaaS applications, Web application servers, Windows applicationservers, and the like. Email servers may include Exchange servers, LotusNotes servers, and the like. File sharing servers may include ShareFileservers, and the like. SaaS applications may include Salesforce, and thelike. Windows application servers may include any application serverthat is built to provide applications that are intended to run on alocal Windows operating system, and the like. The enterprise resources504 may be premise-based resources, cloud based resources, and the like.The enterprise resources 504 may be accessed by the mobile device 502directly or through the access gateway 560. The enterprise resources 504may be accessed by the mobile device 502 via a transport network 562.The transport network 562 may be a wired network, wireless network,cloud network, local area network, metropolitan area network, wide areanetwork, public network, private network, and the like.

The enterprise services 508 may include authentication services 558,threat detection services 564, device manager services 524, file sharingservices 568, policy manager services 570, social integration services572, application controller services 574, and the like. Authenticationservices 558 may include user authentication services, deviceauthentication services, application authentication services, dataauthentication services and the like. Authentication services 558 mayuse certificates. The certificates may be stored on the mobile device502, by the enterprise resources 504, and the like. The certificatesstored on the mobile device 502 may be stored in an encrypted locationon the mobile device, the certificate may be temporarily stored on themobile device 502 for use at the time of authentication, and the like.Threat detection services 564 may include intrusion detection services,unauthorized access attempt detection services, and the like.Unauthorized access attempt detection services may include unauthorizedattempts to access devices, applications, data, and the like. Devicemanagement services 524 may include configuration, provisioning,security, support, monitoring, reporting, and decommissioning services.File sharing services 568 may include file management services, filestorage services, file collaboration services, and the like. Policymanager services 570 may include device policy manager services,application policy manager services, data policy manager services, andthe like. Social integration services 572 may include contactintegration services, collaboration services, integration with socialnetworks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and the like.Application controller services 574 may include management services,provisioning services, deployment services, assignment services,revocation services, wrapping services, and the like.

The enterprise mobility technical architecture 500 may include anapplication store 578. The application store 578 may include unwrappedapplications 580, pre-wrapped applications 582, and the like.Applications may be populated in the application store 578 from theapplication controller 574. The application store 578 may be accessed bythe mobile device 502 through the access gateway 560, through the publicInternet 548, or the like. The application store may be provided with anintuitive and easy to use User Interface. The application store 578 mayprovide access to a software development kit 584. The softwaredevelopment kit 584 may provide a user the capability to secureapplications selected by the user by wrapping the application asdescribed previously in this description. An application that has beenwrapped using the software development kit 584 may then be madeavailable to the mobile device 502 by populating it in the applicationstore 578 using the application controller 574.

The enterprise mobility technical architecture 500 may include amanagement and analytics capability 588. The management and analyticscapability 588 may provide information related to how resources areused, how often resources are used, and the like. Resources may includedevices, applications, data, and the like. How resources are used mayinclude which devices download which applications, which applicationsaccess which data, and the like. How often resources are used mayinclude how often an application has been downloaded, how many times aspecific set of data has been accessed by an application, and the like.

FIG. 6 is another illustrative enterprise mobility management system600. Some of the components of the mobility management system 500described above with reference to FIG. 5 have been omitted for the sakeof simplicity. The architecture of the system 600 depicted in FIG. 6 issimilar in many respects to the architecture of the system 500 describedabove with reference to FIG. 5 and may include additional features notmentioned above.

In this case, the left hand side represents an enrolled mobile device602 with a receiver 604, which interacts with cloud gateway 606 (whichincludes Access Gateway and App Controller functionality) to accessvarious enterprise resources 608 and services 609 such as Exchange,Sharepoint, PKI Resources, Kerberos Resources, Certificate Issuanceservice, as shown on the right hand side above. Although notspecifically shown, the mobile device 602 may also interact with anenterprise application store (StoreFront) for the selection anddownloading of applications.

The receiver 604 acts as the UI (user interface) intermediary forWindows apps/desktops hosted in an Enterprise data center, which areaccessed using the HDX/ICA display remoting protocol. The receiver 604also supports the installation and management of native applications onthe mobile device 602, such as native iOS or Android applications. Forexample, the managed applications 610 (mail, browser, wrappedapplication) shown in the figure above are all native applications thatexecute locally on the device. Receiver 604 and MDX (mobile experiencetechnology) of this architecture act to provide policy driven managementcapabilities and features such as connectivity and SSO (single sign on)to enterprise resources/services 608. The receiver 604 handles primaryuser authentication to the enterprise, normally to Access Gateway (AG)with SSO to other cloud gateway components. The receiver 604 obtainspolicies from cloud gateway 606 to control the behavior of the MDXmanaged applications 610 on the mobile device 602.

The Secure IPC links 612 between the native applications 610 andreceiver 604 represent a management channel, which allows receiver tosupply policies to be enforced by the MDX framework 614 “wrapping” eachapplication. The IPC channel 612 also allows receiver 604 to supplycredential and authentication information that enables connectivity andSSO to enterprise resources 608. Finally the IPC channel 612 allows theMDX framework 614 to invoke user interface functions implemented byreceiver 604, such as online and offline authentication.

Communications between the receiver 604 and cloud gateway 606 areessentially an extension of the management channel from the MDXframework 614 wrapping each native managed application 610. The MDXframework 614 requests policy information from receiver 604, which inturn requests it from cloud gateway 606. The MDX framework 614 requestsauthentication, and receiver 604 logs into the gateway services part ofcloud gateway 606 (also known as NetScaler Access Gateway). Receiver 604may also call supporting services on cloud gateway 606, which mayproduce input material to derive encryption keys for the local datavaults 616, or provide client certificates which may enable directauthentication to PKI protected resources, as more fully explainedbelow.

In more detail, the MDX Framework 614 “wraps” each managed application610. This may be incorporated via an explicit build step, or via apost-build processing step. The MDX Framework 614 may “pair” withreceiver 604 on first launch of an application 610 to initialize theSecure IPC channel and obtain the policy for that application. The MDXFramework 614 may enforce relevant portions of the policy that applylocally, such as the receiver login dependencies and some of thecontainment policies that restrict how local OS services may be used, orhow they may interact with the application 610.

The MDX Framework 614 may use services provided by receiver 604 over theSecure IPC channel 612 to facilitate authentication and internal networkaccess. Key management for the private and shared data vaults 616(containers) may be also managed by appropriate interactions between themanaged applications 610 and receiver 604. Vaults 616 may be availableonly after online authentication, or may be made available after offlineauthentication if allowed by policy. First use of vaults 616 may requireonline authentication, and offline access may be limited to at most thepolicy refresh period before online authentication is again required.

Network access to internal resources may occur directly from individualmanaged applications 610 through Access Gateway 606. The MDX Framework614 is responsible for orchestrating the network access on behalf ofeach application 610. Receiver 604 may facilitate these networkconnections by providing suitable time limited secondary credentialsobtained following online authentication. Multiple modes of networkconnection may be used, such as reverse web proxy connections andend-to-end VPN-style tunnels 618.

The Mail and Browser managed applications 610 have special status andmay make use of facilities that might not be generally available toarbitrary wrapped applications. For example, the Mail application mayuse a special background network access mechanism that allows it toaccess Exchange over an extended period of time without requiring a fullAG logon. The Browser application may use multiple private data vaultsto segregate different kinds of data.

This architecture supports the incorporation of various other securityfeatures. For example, cloud gateway 606 (including its gatewayservices) in some cases will not need to validate AD passwords. It canbe left to the discretion of an enterprise whether an AD password isused as an authentication factor for some users in some situations.Different authentication methods may be used if a user is online oroffline (i.e., connected or not connected to a network).

Step up authentication is a feature wherein cloud gateway 606 mayidentify managed native applications 610 that are allowed to have accessto highly classified data requiring strong authentication, and ensurethat access to these applications is only permitted after performingappropriate authentication, even if this means a re-authentication isrequired by the user after a prior weaker level of login.

Another security feature of this solution is the encryption of the datavaults 616 (containers) on the mobile device 602. The vaults 616 may beencrypted so that all on-device data including files, databases, andconfigurations are protected. For on-line vaults, the keys may be storedon the server (cloud gateway 606), and for off-line vaults, a local copyof the keys may be protected by a user password. When data is storedlocally on the device 602 in the secure container 616, it is preferredthat a minimum of AES 256 encryption algorithm be utilized.

Other secure container features may also be implemented. For example, alogging feature may be included, wherein all security events happeninginside an application 610 are logged and reported to the backend. Datawiping may be supported, such as if the application 610 detectstampering, associated encryption keys may be written over with randomdata, leaving no hint on the file system that user data was destroyed.Screenshot protection is another feature, where an application mayprevent any data from being stored in screenshots. For example, the keywindow's hidden property may be set to YES. This may cause whatevercontent is currently displayed on the screen to be hidden, resulting ina blank screenshot where any content would normally reside.

Local data transfer may be prevented, such as by preventing any datafrom being locally transferred outside the application container, e.g.,by copying it or sending it to an external application. A keyboard cachefeature may operate to disable the autocorrect functionality forsensitive text fields. SSL certificate validation may be operable so theapplication specifically validates the server SSL certificate instead ofit being stored in the keychain. An encryption key generation featuremay be used such that the key used to encrypt data on the device isgenerated using a passphrase supplied by the user (if offline access isrequired). It may be XORed with another key randomly generated andstored on the server side if offline access is not required. KeyDerivation functions may operate such that keys generated from the userpassword use KDFs (key derivation functions, notably PBKDF2) rather thancreating a cryptographic hash of it. The latter makes a key susceptibleto brute force or dictionary attacks.

Further, one or more initialization vectors may be used in encryptionmethods. An initialization vector will cause multiple copies of the sameencrypted data to yield different cipher text output, preventing bothreplay and cryptanalytic attacks. This will also prevent an attackerfrom decrypting any data even with a stolen encryption key if thespecific initialization vector used to encrypt the data is not known.Further, authentication then decryption may be used, wherein applicationdata is decrypted only after the user has authenticated within theapplication. Another feature may relate to sensitive data in memory,which may be kept in memory (and not in disk) only when it's needed. Forexample, login credentials may be wiped from memory after login, andencryption keys and other data inside objective-C instance variables arenot stored, as they may be easily referenced. Instead, memory may bemanually allocated for these.

An inactivity timeout may be implemented, wherein after a policy-definedperiod of inactivity, a user session is terminated.

Data leakage from the MDX framework 614 may be prevented in other ways.For example, when an application 610 is put in the background, thememory may be cleared after a predetermined (configurable) time period.When backgrounded, a snapshot may be taken of the last displayed screenof the application to fasten the foregrounding process. The screenshotmay contain confidential data and hence should be cleared.

Another security feature relates to the use of an OTP (one timepassword) 620 without the use of an AD (active directory) 622 passwordfor access to one or more applications. In some cases, some users do notknow (or are not permitted to know) their AD password, so these usersmay authenticate using an OTP 620 such as by using a hardware OTP systemlike SecurID (OTPs may be provided by different vendors also, such asEntrust or Gemalto). In some cases, after a user authenticates with auser ID, a text is sent to the user with an OTP 620. In some cases, thismay be implemented only for online use, with a prompt being a singlefield.

An offline password may be implemented for offline authentication forthose applications 610 for which offline use is permitted via enterprisepolicy. For example, an enterprise may want StoreFront to be accessed inthis manner. In this case, the receiver 604 may require the user to seta custom offline password and the AD password is not used. Cloud gateway606 may provide policies to control and enforce password standards withrespect to the minimum length, character class composition, and age ofpasswords, such as described by the standard Windows Server passwordcomplexity requirements, although these requirements may be modified.

Another feature relates to the enablement of a client side certificatefor certain applications 610 as secondary credentials (for the purposeof accessing PKI protected web resources via the MDX micro VPN feature).For example, an application such as @WorkMail may utilize such acertificate. In this case, certificate-based authentication usingActiveSync protocol may be supported, wherein a certificate from thereceiver 604 may be retrieved by cloud gateway 606 and used in akeychain. Each managed application may have one associated clientcertificate, identified by a label that is defined in cloud gateway 606.

Cloud gateway 606 may interact with an Enterprise special purpose webservice to support the issuance of client certificates to allow relevantmanaged applications to authenticate to internal PKI protectedresources.

The receiver 604 and the MDX Framework 614 may be enhanced to supportobtaining and using client certificates for authentication to internalPKI protected network resources. More than one certificate may besupported, such as to match various levels of security and/or separationrequirements. The certificates may be used by the Mail and Browsermanaged applications, and ultimately by arbitrary wrapped applications(provided those applications use web service style communicationpatterns where it is reasonable for the MDX Framework to mediate httpsrequests).

MDX client certificate support on iOS may rely on importing a PKCS 12BLOB (Binary Large Object) into the iOS keychain in each managedapplication for each period of use. MDX client certificate support mayuse a HTTPS implementation with private in-memory key storage. Theclient certificate will never be present in the iOS keychain and willnot be persisted except potentially in “online-only” data value that isstrongly protected.

Mutual SSL may also be implemented to provide additional security byrequiring that a mobile device 602 is authenticated to the enterprise,and vice versa. Virtual smart cards for authentication to cloud gateway606 may also be implemented.

Both limited and full Kerberos support may be additional features. Thefull support feature relates to an ability to do full Kerberos login toAD 622, using an AD password or trusted client certificate, and obtainKerberos service tickets to respond to HTTP Negotiate authenticationchallenges. The limited support feature relates to constraineddelegation in AFEE, where AFEE supports invoking Kerberos protocoltransition so it can obtain and use Kerberos service tickets (subject toconstrained delegation) in response to HTTP Negotiate authenticationchallenges. This mechanism works in reverse web proxy (aka CVPN) mode,and when http (but not https) connections are proxied in VPN andMicroVPN mode.

Another feature relates to application container locking and wiping,which may automatically occur upon jail-break or rooting detections, andoccur as a pushed command from administration console, and may include aremote wipe functionality even when an application 610 is not running.

A multi-site architecture or configuration of StoreFront and AppController may be supported that allows users to be service from one ofseveral different locations in case of failure.

In some cases, managed applications 610 may be allowed to access acertificate and private key via an API (example OpenSSL). Trustedmanaged applications 610 of an enterprise may be allowed to performspecific Public Key operations with an application's client certificateand private key. Various use cases may be identified and treatedaccordingly, such as when an application behaves like a browser and nocertificate access is required, when an application reads a certificatefor “who am I,” when an application uses the certificate to build asecure session token, and when an application uses private keys fordigital signing of important data (e.g. transaction log) or fortemporary data encryption.

Illustrative Embodiment(s)

FIG. 7 illustrates a sample interface of a mobile device, and FIGS. 8-14illustrate sample embodiments of methods for determining an operationmode for an application. The methods depicted in FIGS. 8-14 may becombined in any suitable manner in various embodiments. The sampleinterface depictured in FIG. 7 may be displayed on a mobile device, suchas device 107, 109, 240, 502, and/or 602, and the methods depicted inFIGS. 8-14 may be implemented by such a mobile device.

In FIG. 8, a flowchart of example method steps for determining anapplication mode for an application is shown. The method of FIG. 8 maybegin at step 802, where a plurality of applications are presented. Forexample, a plurality of applications may be presented to a user on amobile device. FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment where user interface 700displayed on a mobile device (e.g., tablet, smart phone, or the like)presents Applications A 700, B 701, C 702, and E 703 to a user. This ismerely an example, and the plurality of applications may be presented inany suitable manner. In an embodiment, the plurality of applications maycomprise email applications, web browsing applications,software-as-a-service (SaaS) access applications, and the like.

The method of FIG. 8 may proceed from step 802 to step 804, where aselection for one of the plurality of applications is received. Withreference to an embodiment depicted in FIG. 7, a user of a mobile devicemay select one of the presented applications by, for example, pressing adisplay of the mobile device to select the application. This is merelyan example, and the application may be selected in any suitable manner.

The method of FIG. 8 may proceed from step 804 to step 806, where acontext for the selected applications is determined based on one or moreoperational parameters of the device executing the selected application.For example, a context may be based on an account to be accessed by theapplication, a location of the mobile device or a network connectivitystatus of the mobile device executing the application, or based on anyother operational parameter. The methods of FIGS. 9-13, furtherdescribed below, illustrate various embodiments where example contextsare described.

The method of FIG. 8 may proceed from step 804 to step 806, where anoperation mode for the selected application is determined based on thecontext. In an embodiment, the operations modes may comprise unmanaged,managed, and partially managed modes. The operation mode may bedetermined based on one or more determined contexts.

In an embodiment, the determined context may be compared to a storedpolicy in order to determine an operation mode. A mobile device, such asmobile device 502, may store one or more policies used to determine anoperation mode for an application. In an embodiment, the policies may bestored remotely, such as at policy manager 570, described above withreference to FIG. 5. In an example, a context may comprise a selectedapplication configured to access a secure account, such as an emailapplication configured to access a secure email account. This contextmay be compared to a stored policy. For instance, the stored policy maydefine that an email application that is configured to access a secureemail account is to be run as a managed application. Additional contextsand policies will be described with respect to FIGS. 9-13.

The method of FIG. 8 may proceed from step 806 to step 808, where theselected application is run in the determined operation mode. Forexample, the operation mode may be determined as managed, unmanaged, orpartially managed, and the selected application may be run in thedetermined mode.

In an embodiment, a managed operation mode may include running theapplication as a part of the managed partition 510 of mobile device 502,as described above with reference to FIG. 5. As such, the managedapplication may be run as secure native applications 514, secure remoteapplications 522 executed by a secure application launcher 518,virtualization applications 526 executed by a secure applicationlauncher 518, and the like. The applications running on the managedpartition may be stabilized applications such that device manager 524monitors the stabilized applications to detect and remedy problems thatmight result in a destabilized application, such as pushing updates tothe stabilized applications.

In an embodiment, an application running in managed mode may access datastored in a secure data container 528 in the managed partition 510 ofthe mobile device. The data stored in the secure data container 528 mayinclude data restricted to a specific secure application 530, sharedamong other secure applications, and the like. Data restricted to asecure application may include secure general data 534 and highly securedata 538. Secure general data may use a strong form of encryption suchas AES 128-bit encryption or the like, while highly secure data 538 mayuse a very strong form of encryption such as AES 254-bit encryption. Inan embodiment, an application running in managed mode may save, modify,or delete data in secure data container 528. The data saved or modifiedmay be encrypted similar to other data stored in secure data container528.

In an embodiment, an application running in managed mode may connect toenterprise resources 504 and enterprise services 508 through virtualprivate network connections, as described about with reference to FIG.5. The virtual private network connections may be specific to particularapplication, such as the selected application, particular devices,particular secured areas on the mobile device, and the like. Forexample, wrapped applications in a secured area of the phone may accessenterprise resources through an application specific VPN such thataccess to the VPN would be granted based on attributes associated withthe application, possibly in conjunction with user or device attributeinformation.

In an embodiment, an application running in managed mode may encryptdata transmitted from the application. For example, an applicationrunning in managed mode may be communicating with a computing deviceover a network, and the data transmitted from the application to thedevice may be encrypted. In addition, the data communicated from thecomputing device to the application may also be encrypted, and theapplication running in managed mode may be configured to decrypt thereceived data.

In an embodiment, an application running in managed mode my access asecure portal. For example, an application may connect to a computingdevice over a network, for example, a microVPN, and may access a secureportal that might not be access by unsecured applications, such asapplications running in unmanaged mode.

In an embodiment, an unmanaged operation mode may include running theapplication as a part of the unmanaged partition 512 of mobile device502, as described above with reference to FIG. 5. In an unmanaged mode,the application may access data stored in an unsecured data container542 on the unmanaged partition 512 of the mobile device 502. The datastored in an unsecured data container may be personal data 544.

In an embodiment, an application running in partially managed mode maybe run similar to an application running in managed mode, but might notinclude all aspects of the latter. For example, an application runningin partially managed mode may have the information transmitted from theapplication over a network encrypted, but the application might not haveaccess to secure data container 528, as described with reference to FIG.5. In another example, an application running in partially managed modemay have access to secure data container 528, but might not be able toconnect to enterprise resources 504 and enterprise services 508 throughvirtual private network connections. Accordingly, depending on thedetermined context, an application running in partially managed mode mayinclude aspects of an application running in managed mode and aspects ofan application running in unmanaged mode.

In FIGS. 9-13, flowcharts of example method steps for determining acontext and operation mode for an application are shown. In anembodiment, steps 806 and 808 of FIG. 8 may comprise the method steps ofany one or more of FIGS. 9-13. The method of FIG. 9 may begin at step902, where an account to be accessed by a selected application isdetected. For example, a selected application may comprise an emailapplication and an email account that the email application isconfigured to access may be detected. In this example, the emailapplication may be able to access multiple email accounts, such as anenterprise email account and a personal email account, and the accountthat the email application is configured to access at the time ofrunning may be determined as the context account to be accessed.

The method of FIG. 9 may proceed from step 902 to step 904, where anaccount type of the account to be accessed may be determined. Theaccount type may comprise a context for the selected application. Forexample, a selected application may comprise an email application andthe email application may be configured to access an enterprise account.In another example, the email application may be configured to access apersonal account.

The method of FIG. 9 may proceed from step 904 to step 906, where anaccount type may be compared with an account type policy. For example, apolicy may define that an email application that is to access anenterprise account should run in managed mode and an email applicationthat is to access a personal account should run in unmanaged mode. Themethod of FIG. 9 may proceed from step 906 to step 908, where anoperation mode is determined based on the comparison.

The method of FIG. 10 may begin at step 1002, where a location for amobile device is determined. For example, a mobile device, such asmobile device 502, may implement the method of FIG. 10, and a locationfor the mobile device may be determined. The location may be determinedby GPS, signal triangulation, or any other suitable or otherwise knownmanner. The location may comprise a context for the selectedapplication.

The method of FIG. 10 may proceed from step 1002 to step 1004, where adetermined location may be compared with a location policy. For example,a policy may define that a selected application run in managed mode whenin a certain location, for example, on company premises. In anembodiment, a policy may define that a selected application run inpartially managed mode when in a certain location, for example, when thedetermined location is inside the United States but off companypremises. For example, the partially managed mode may encryptcommunication to and from the selected application, but might not allowaccess to enterprise resources, such as resources 504. In anotherembodiment, a policy may define that a selected application run inunmanaged mode when in a certain location, for example, when thedetermined location is outside the United States. The method of FIG. 10may proceed from step 1004 to step 1006, where an operation mode isdetermined based on the comparison.

The method of FIG. 11 may begin at step 1102, where it is monitoredwhether a predetermined application is running on a device. For example,a mobile device, such as mobile device 502, may implement the method ofFIG. 11, and the mobile device may be monitored to determine whether apredetermined application is running. The predetermined application maycomprise any application capable of running on the mobile device, such areceiver 604 as described with reference to FIG. 6. The monitoredpredetermined application may comprise a context for the selectedapplication.

The method of FIG. 11 may proceed from step 1102 to step 1104, where amonitored application is compared against a policy. For example, apolicy may define that a selected application run in managed mode when apredetermined application, such as receiver 604, is running and that theselected application run in unmanaged mode when the predeterminedapplication is not running. The method of FIG. 11 may proceed from step1104 to step 1106, where an operation mode is determined based on thecomparison.

The method of FIG. 12 may begin at step 1202, one or more networkconnections are detected. For example, a mobile device, such as mobiledevice 502, may implement the method of FIG. 12, and the networkconnections that the mobile device makes may be detected. In an example,network connections may comprise a connection to a cellular network, aconnection to a WIFI network, or a connection to a Wireless Local AreaNetwork (WLAN), or the like. The one or more network connections maycomprise a context for the selected application.

The method of FIG. 12 may proceed from step 1202 to step 1204, wheredetected network connections are compared against a network connectionpolicy. For example, a policy may define that a selected application runin managed mode when a mobile device is connected to an internalnetwork, such as a WLAN internal to a company, and that the selectedapplication run in unmanaged mode when the mobile device is onlyconnected to a wireless network, such as cellular network or WIFInetwork. The method of FIG. 12 may proceed from step 1204 to step 1206,where an operation mode is determined based on the comparison.

The method of FIG. 13 may begin at step 1302, where one or more settingsfor a mobile device are detected. For example, a mobile device, such asmobile device 502, may implement the method of FIG. 13, and one or moresettings for the mobile device may be detected. In an example, it may bedetected whether the mobile device has a lock screen, such as a PINrequired for using the mobile device, or it may be detected whether themobile device is jailbroken, e.g., has received after-marketmodifications. The one or more settings may comprise a context for theselected application.

The method of FIG. 13 may proceed from step 1302 to step 1304, wheredetected settings are compared against a settings policy. For example, apolicy may define that a selected application might not run in managedmode if the mobile device does not have a lock screen or if the mobiledevice is jailbroken. The method of FIG. 13 may proceed from step 1304to step 1306, where an operation mode is determined based on thecomparison. In an embodiment, when running the selected application inthe determined mode, an indicator may be displayed on the mobile devicethat informs a user of certain policies, such as a requirement for amobile device to have a lock screen before the mobile device is allowedto run the selected application in managed mode. FIGS. 9-13 describe aplurality of contexts, and any other suitable context and correspondingpolicy may be implemented.

In an embodiment, one or more of the contexts described in FIGS. 9-13may be combined and these contexts may be compared against a policy forthe selected application. For example, contexts for a selectedapplication may comprise an account type to be accessed as an enterpriseemail account and a detected network connection as a cellular network.In this example, the policy may define that when an enterprise accountis attempted to be accessed over a cellular network, the selectedapplication should be run in managed mode. The policy may be defined inthis way because the selected application may encrypt the communicationwith the enterprise email account, and therefore the risk of sendingsecure traffic over a cellular network may be mitigated.

In another example, contexts for a selected application may comprise adetermined location outside of the United States and a networkconnection with a WLAN internal to a company. A policy may define that aselected application is to run in managed mode when a determinedlocation is outside the United States and a network connection is with aWLAN internal to a company. The policy may be defined in this waybecause a network connection with a WLAN internal to a company mitigatesthe risk associated with secure communications outside of the UnitedStates.

In an embodiment, the one or more contexts as described in FIGS. 9-13may include a priority. For example, a context for a selectedapplication may comprise a mobile device setting as jailbroken and apolicy may define that a selected application is to run in unmanagedmode when a context indicates a jailbroken mobile device, regardless ofwhat other contexts indicate. Accordingly, a jailbroken mobile devicewill have a selected application run in unmanaged mode even when themobile device is connected to a WLAN internal to a company or if theselected application is attempting to access an enterprise account.

In an embodiment, a policy may indicate that a selected application isto be run in partially managed mode based on a plurality of contexts asdescribed in FIGS. 9-13. For example, contexts for a selectedapplication may comprise an account type to be accessed as an enterpriseemail account and a detected network connection as a cellular network.In this example, the policy may define that when an enterprise accountis attempted to be accessed over a cellular network, the selectedapplication should be run in partially managed mode. The partiallymanaged mode may encrypt communication to and from the selectedapplication, but might not allow access to enterprise resources, such asresources 504. The policy may be defined in this way because theencrypted communication with the enterprise email account may be a lowrisk communication, and allowing access to enterprise resources may be ahigh risk communication.

In FIG. 14, a flowchart of example method steps for switching anoperation mode for an application is shown. For example, the methodsteps of FIG. 14 may follow the method steps of FIG. 8. The method ofFIG. 14 may begin at step 1402, where one or more contexts may bemonitored while a selected application is running. In an embodiment, oneor more of the contexts described with reference to FIGS. 9-13 may bemonitored. For example, a mobile device running a selected applicationmay be connected to a cellular network and while the selectedapplication is running, the mobile device may make a new networkconnection with a WLAN internal to a company.

The method of FIG. 14 may proceed from step 1402 to step 1404, where achange in an operation mode for a selected application is detected basedon the monitoring. Stated differently, the mobile device may detect achange in information that formed the basis for selecting a particularoperational mode. For example, a selected application may be running inunmanaged mode, and once a mobile application running the selectedapplication connects to a WLAN internal to a company, a policy maydefine that the operation mode for the selected application shouldswitch to managed mode. The method of FIG. 14 may proceed from step 1404to step 1406, where the operation mode for the selected application isswitched.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are described asexample implementations of the following claims.

1. A method comprising: receiving, from a user, a selection for an application of a plurality of applications on a computing device; determining, based on an account used within the selected application, a first context for the user selected application; determining a second context for the user selected application based on an operational parameter of the computing device; selecting, based on a determination that the first context has priority over the second context, for the user selected application, one of a plurality of operation modes comprising at least an unmanaged mode and a managed mode; and executing the user selected application in the selected operation mode on the computing device, wherein, based on a selection of the unmanaged mode, the user selected application executes in a first partition of the operating system of the computing device, and accesses a container in the first partition, and wherein, based on a selection of the managed operation mode, the user selected application executes in a second partition of the operating system of the computing device that is separate from the first partition and accesses a container in the second partition.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first context comprises an enterprise account used within the user selected application; and wherein the selected operation mode is the managed mode.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first context comprises a location for the computing device within a premises; wherein the selected operation mode is the managed mode; and wherein data communicated from the computing device to the user selected application executing in the managed mode is encrypted.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first context comprises detecting that a predetermined application is executing on the computing device; and wherein the selected operation mode is the managed mode.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first context comprises a network connection for the computing device; and wherein the selected operation mode is the managed mode.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first context comprises a predetermined default operation mode for the user selected application.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring, while the selected application is executing, an updated first context for the selected application; and switching from the selected operation mode for the user selected application to a different one of the plurality of operation modes based on the monitoring.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the updated first context comprises one or more of: a received indication from the user, an accessed account, an accessed document that comprises a secure document, a detected launch of a predetermined application, a change in a network connection for the computing device, or a monitored location for the computing device executing the user selected application.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of operation modes further comprises a partially managed mode.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing the first context with the first policy for the user selected application comprises: retrieving, by the computing device and from a remote storage location, the first policy.
 11. A system comprising: one or more processors; and a memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the one or more processors to: receive, from a user, a selection for an application of a plurality of applications on a computing device; determine a first context for the user selected application based on an account used within the selected application; determine a second context for the user selected application based on a second operational parameter of the computing device; select, based on a determination that the first context has priority over the second context, an operation mode from a plurality of operation comprising at least an unmanaged mode and a managed mode; and execute the user selected application in the determined operation mode on the computing device, wherein, based on a selection of the unmanaged mode, the user selected application executes in a first partition of the operating system of the computing device and accesses a container in the first partition, and wherein, based on a selection of the managed mode, the user selected application executes in a second partition of the operating system of the computing device that is separate from the first partition and accesses a container in the second partition.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the second priority is different from the first priority.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein when the first priority has precedence over the second priority, the determined operation mode is based on the first context.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the first context comprises an enterprise account used within the user selected application; and wherein the determined operation mode is the managed mode.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein the first context comprises a location for the computing device within a premises; wherein the determined operation mode is the managed mode; and wherein data communicated from the computing device to the user selected application executing in the managed mode is encrypted.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein the first context comprises detecting that a predetermined application is executing on the computing device; and wherein the determined operation mode is the managed mode.
 17. The system of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the one or more processors to: monitor, while the selected application is executing, an updated first context for the selected application; and switch from the determined operation mode for the user selected application to a different one of the plurality of operation modes based on the monitoring.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the updated first context comprises one or more of: a received indication from the user, an accessed account, an accessed document that comprises a secure document, a detected launch of a predetermined application, a change in a network connection for the computing device, or a monitored location for the computing device executing the user selected application.
 19. The system of claim 12, wherein the comparing the first context with the first policy for the user selected application comprises: retrieving, by the computing device and from a remote storage location, the first policy.
 20. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the computing device to: receive, from a user, a selection for an application of a plurality of applications on the computing device; determine, based on an account used within the user selected application, a first context for the selected application; determine a second context for the selected application based on an operational parameter of the computing device; based on a determination that the first priority has precedence over the second priority, select, for the user selected application, one of a plurality of operation modes comprising at least an unmanaged mode and a managed mode; and execute the user selected application in the selected operation mode on the computing device, wherein, based on a selection of the unmanaged mode, the user selected application is executed in a first partition of the operating system of the computing device, and accesses a container in the first partition, and wherein, based on a selection of the managed mode, the user selected application is executed in a second partition of the operating system of the computing device that is separate from the first partition and accesses a container in the second partition.
 21. A method comprising: receiving, from a user, a selection for an application of a plurality of applications on a computing device; determining, based on an account used within the user selected application, a first context for the user selected application; determining, based on an operational parameter of the computing device, a second context for the user selected application; determining that the first context has priority over the second context; selecting, for the user selected application, one of a plurality of operation modes comprising at least an unmanaged mode and a managed mode; and executing the user selected application in the selected operation mode on the computing device, wherein, based on a selection of the unmanaged mode, the user selected application is executed in a first partition of the operating system of the computing device, and accesses application data stored in a first container in the first partition, and wherein, based on a selection of the managed mode, the user selected application is executed in a second partition of the operating system of the computing device that is separate from the first partition and accesses application data stored in a second container in the second partition. 